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The record contract the Colts handed defensive end Dwight Freeney late last week is yet another new wrinkle in the Larry Johnson-Chiefs contract saga.
Freeney’s $72 million deal, which includes $30 million in bonuses and $37.5 million over the first three years, raised the roof on all future contract demands across the league.
The Colts treated Freeney, the game’s second-best defensive end after Julius Peppers, like a quarterback. And by doing so, the Colts hammered the point that you can’t compare 2007 contracts by the standards established under the old collective-bargaining agreement.
The franchise-tag value for defensive ends had been around $8.6 million. Once Peppers inks a new deal, an agreement that should surpass Freeney’s, the franchise number for pass rushers will begin to approach $10 million.
My point in bringing this up is it is being made abundantly clear that the deal that LaDainian Tomlinson, the league’s best running back, signed in 2004 is obsolete when talking about Larry Johnson’s value in today’s market.
If the Chargers signed LT today, he would garner a $30 million signing bonus and $36 million over the first three years of the contract.
Under that scenario, what does the game’s second-best running back deserve? Larry and his agent have virtually no choice but to demand $25 million in guarantees.
I still see a trade as a legitimate possibility. The Hunt family has never shown the stomach for reaching into their piggy bank and handing out huge signing bonuses.
The Chiefs still operate like a $10 million bonus is a big deal. Yes, Tony Gonzalez got $18 million in guaranteed money, but only $10 million was in signing bonus. The rest was in guaranteed salary over the first four years of his new deal.
But look at the cash Colts owner Jim Irsay has been tossing around: Peyton Manning received $35 million in guarantees, Marvin Harrison got $23 million, Reggie Wayne took home $13.5 million and now Freeney just cracked $30 million.
There’s a huge difference between paying a guy in salary and paying a guy in guaranteed bonuses. The latter is far more risky and causes an owner to initially dip into his own finances to do it. It’s the difference between cash dollars and salary-cap dollars.
The Hunts will spend their salary-cap dollars, but they’ve been reluctant to stretch the cap by spending large sums of cash in bonuses.
I’m not going to beat up the Hunts or team president/general manager WildCarl Peterson about their frugal spending habits. You could argue the Colts are in a unique situation; they have arguably the league’s best quarterback, pass rusher and wide receiver.
The Chiefs have arguably the league’s best tight end, and they paid him like it. In my opinion, the Chiefs have the league’s best offensive guard, Brian Waters, and WildCarl took complete advantage of Waters in 2006 contract negotiations.
Is it WildCarl’s fault that Waters chose to do his deal without the assistance of an agent? Waters is every bit as good as Minnesota’s Steve Hutchinson, who inked a $49 million deal that included $16 million in bonuses.
Waters received a $4 million roster bonus, relatively modest salaries over the first three years ($585,000, $720,000 and $2.08 million), and roster bonuses in 2007 and 2008 of $3 million and $2.5 million. When you toss in workout bonuses and per-game roster bonuses, Waters received $14.6 million over three years. Hutchinson got $23 million.
Waters signed an extremely Chiefs-friendly agreement. It’s simply not the kind of reward teams generally give proven performers and rock-solid citizens such as Waters — at least not when they retain proper representation.
Again, I’m not trying to beat up Peterson or the Hunts. The Patriots and the Eagles, to name two franchises, have experienced success while gaining a reputation as cheap.
And does declining to give Johnson $20 million-plus in guarantees mean the Chiefs are cheap or does it signify that the organization believes Johnson isn’t worth it? According to my sources, so far, the Chiefs have offered Johnson less guaranteed money than Gonzalez. The Chiefs are allegedly in the $14 million to $15 million range, or about half of what LT would get today.
Is Johnson only half the running back that Tomlinson is? No one would argue that. A trade just might make sense for all parties. Brett Favre would love to have Larry Johnson, and the Packers would properly pay Johnson. The Chiefs could pick up a few draft picks

it almost sounds like he wants Waters to hold out. but he is right its hard to see the Hunts prying open their checkbook to pay LJ that much signing $$$. the Hunts are almost,i say almost the Glasses of football. i can see LJ being traded more and more everyday. i say trade him for high draft picks.

it almost sounds like he wants Waters to hold out. but he is right its hard to see the Hunts prying open their checkbook to pay LJ that much signing $$$. the Hunts are almost,i say almost the Glasses of football. i can see LJ being traded more and more everyday. i say trade him for high draft picks.

As much as I hate to say it, it is looking more and more like a trade everyday.

it almost sounds like he wants Waters to hold out. but he is right its hard to see the Hunts prying open their checkbook to pay LJ that much signing $$$. the Hunts are almost,i say almost the Glasses of football. i can see LJ being traded more and more everyday. i say trade him for high draft picks.

As much as I hate to say it, it is looking more and like a trade every day.

WOW, I don't agree with Fatass on much, but it proves what I have been saying to be right. Can anyone say BIDWILL????? They have fans in the seats, gettin paid from all the merchandise and all they want to do is line their pockets! WEIRD! Draft picks for LJ huh? WOW!!! as much of a pain in the *** as TO is, would you trade him for draft picks? Nobody has yet! Your going to trade a guy who will get LT money from a ton of teams and you guys want to get rid of him for a couple of scrubs and a few high draft picks???? WTF is going on??? Do you guys know what your saying?

Trust me, if we trade LJ, we will really struggle to that third place over the Raiders. How do you pay your TE more than your RB? Has there ever been a team in history that has done this? Doubt it! Where would the Chiefs have been without this guy last season? Someone in a different thread said they would trade LJ for J Jones and some other C caliber running back. Oh, and a couple of draft picks! WTF!!!! You guys are jaded!

Someone tell me why he isn't worth 2nd best RB money? Please don't say attitude because every player in the league has or will threaten to hold out if they don't get what they want. They all have attitudes and get pissed at something or another during the season. Remember all the talk last year about the Colts locker room being a mess? Offensive guys fighting with defensive guys, Peyton Manning throwin offensive lineman under the bus? It happens on every team.

So please give me a legitimate reason not to pay this guy like a top 5 running back in the league!

Also, remember that NONE of these contracts are guarranteed. Signing bonus only. Not the money nor the years! Everyone of these contracts for 6,7,8 years, they will all be renegotiated before they come to term!

Someone tell me why he isn't worth 2nd best RB money? Please don't say attitude because every player in the league has or will threaten to hold out if they don't get what they want. They all have attitudes and get pissed at something or another during the season. Remember all the talk last year about the Colts locker room being a mess? Offensive guys fighting with defensive guys, Peyton Manning throwin offensive lineman under the bus? It happens on every team.

So please give me a legitimate reason not to pay this guy like a top 5 running back in the league!

I have never said that he isn't worth Top 5 RB money. I just have said that he is not worth LT money. And I continue to say that.

If both LT and LJ accounted for the same hit to the salary cap, which one would you prefer to have on your team? I think 99 people out of 100 would say LT. The other 1 person would probably came to the same conclusion after they sat down their pipe. I agree is a good RB. I just don't want to pay the farm for a guy that isn't proven in my mind. He has had 1.5 good seasons.

Your right, maybe not LT money after 1.5 years but they are offering him half of what LT is getting. Is that fair? How many teams do you think would pay him LT money? I'm betting quite few.

I agree that half of LT's salary isn't fair. And you also correct that many teams will probably offer him LT money. That is what complicates this whole mess. I hope they can come to an agreement to keep him here for something near LT money. I just don't want to see the Chiefs stuck with a high-priced RB that all of the sudden hobbles to the sidelines over little injuries because he is suddenly making guaranteed money. And his personality/character issues make that scenario seem likely.

He is going to get paid reguardless but only bonus money is guarranteed. You can't base contracts on maybe a player will get hurt and maybe he won't. This guy carried the ball more than anyone in history last season!!! I say he's fairly durable! Did you see him in college? I don't think you give him that many carries this years or in the future but I think he's shown he can handle the workload.